“I am writing this as a profession of faith: I believe in a divine providence; I also believe in God's wisdom and goodness; I trust in his ways, even though they may seem matters of chance. It is not the mighty of the earth who determine the course of history. They think they are the movers, and they are moved.”
― Spandau: The Secret Diaries
― Spandau: The Secret Diaries
“We still don’t like the things we don’t like –we just cease to be at war with them. And once the war is over, change can begin.”
― Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change and Thrive in Work and Life
― Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change and Thrive in Work and Life
“One of the dictums that defines our culture is that we can be anything we want to be – to win the neoliberal game we just have to dream, to put our minds to it, to want it badly enough. This message leaks out to us from seemingly everywhere in our environment: at the cinema, in heart-warming and inspiring stories we read in the news and social media, in advertising, in self-help books, in the classroom, on television. We internalize it, incorporating it into our sense of self. But it’s not true. It is, in fact, the dark lie at the heart of the age of perfectionism. It’s the cause, I believe, of an incalculable quotient of misery. Here’s the truth that no million-selling self-help book, famous motivational speaker, happiness guru or blockbusting Hollywood screenwriter seems to want you to know. You’re limited. Imperfect. And there’s nothing you can do about it.”
― Selfie: How We Became So Self-Obsessed and What It's Doing to Us
― Selfie: How We Became So Self-Obsessed and What It's Doing to Us
“The most effective way to transform your life, therefore, is not by quitting your job and moving to an ashram, but, to paraphrase Teddy Roosevelt, by doing what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
― Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change and Thrive in Work and Life
― Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change and Thrive in Work and Life
“This is where low self-esteem gets built into the core of the machine. For Aristotle, a person had innate potential and was naturally moving towards perfection. But for the Christians, a person was born in a state of sin and falling towards hell. God, not the individual, was where perfection lay. This meant that a person wanting to become more perfect would have to engage in a constant war with themselves – a war, not with forces out in the world, but with their own soul, their conscience, their mind and thoughts. And because perfection only existed outside the human realm, that struggle would always be hopeless. The Christians had given the Western self a soul, and then begun to torture it.”
― Selfie: How We Became So Self-Obsessed and What It's Doing to Us
― Selfie: How We Became So Self-Obsessed and What It's Doing to Us
Duane’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Duane’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Duane
Lists liked by Duane




















